COMETA Solutions//Warnings, safety, problem"fixes", pre/post mod measurements, & more. UPDATED

This thread is really not for the person who knows about lights, it is for the person that is unsure what they are doing, has concerns, have questions, and may need some help. :slight_smile:

We will not be taking a vote or arguing about what I write in these first few posts. It will be clean and uncluttered and easy to navigate. I am not even going to read past what I write most likely… if there is even anything to read.

Several members have come up with creative β€œfixes” for the COMETA in the name of safety. I am presenting the ones I have used on all 4 of my COMETA’s with success. Notations will be made for whose idea it was and who provided the pictures.

I am not doing this because I am or think I am some kind of great expert. I’m not.

But I do have enough sense to know it is only a matter of time until someone, somewhere, who is either uninformed, unable, or unwilling to read through many pages to find the problems & β€œfixes” is hurt or worse. So here it is in one, easy to navigate place.

I am in no way saying these β€œfixes” absolves BangGood from responsibility for this debacle. It DOES NOT……………….
As far as I am concerned BangGood has acted deplorable in this situation so far.

This is for the person that is gonna use their light regardless…. This is posted so in hopes it will help thrm do that safely.

This will be completed when it is completed… I’ll do my best to make that today.

If you are not willing to read a bit and actually take time to watch a video or two until you understand them…… don’t waste your time with this.

If you have not seen the Warning about the COMETA… please see post #3 in this thread.

OK, the first thing we do requires no disassembly of flashlight.
We insulate the pill……
Here is how it is done.

1. Cut a 1 inch plastic circle [washer] from a milk jug [or something plastic].
2. Put a 1/4 inch hole in the middle of the washer.
3. Put this over the spring in the body of the light [where you install the battery]
4. The washer should fit over the spring, help it if you need to.
5. This will insulate the bottom of the pill & keep the battery from potentially/probably shorting against it.

The picture below shows the plastic washer installed as it should be.

RobertB wrote: Yup, easy peasy. Just cut circle out of a plastic milk jug and stick it in. .
[you can also use the 18650 adapter as a circle template. trace around it with a sharpie.]

picture by:RobertB



The next steps will require some disassembly of the light……
So if you do not know how to take your COMETA apart, watch this video, by β€˜Jeansy’; until you do:

Please note: Pay no attention to the tape on the pill in this video, I am positive that would work great; but that is not what we are doing. We are keeping this simple and doing one proven β€œfix” for each problem.


Alright, if you are to this point you now understand how to take your COMETA apart.

The picture below, provided by β€˜JamesB’; shows one disassembled.

Please Note, IMPORTANT: There is no need to take the Lens & O-ring out of the Bezel unless it is broken or you need to clean it. When you screw the Zoom Ring out of the Bezel… leave the Bezel pointed straight down on a flat surface and screw the Zoom Ring right out of it. Just leave it laying there without moving or upsetting it and it should be lined up and ready to screw the Zoom Ring back in when you reassemble. Do all of the above with the light in the Full Focused orientation.

Far left is Tailcap

Then starting at top and working down we have Body of Light, the Pill , the Anodized Disc.

Move to right and back to top working down we have the Zoom Ring, the Bezel

Sitting on white paper is the Lens with an O-ring on it.

Please familiarize yourself with these parts and their relation to each other.
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Alright, now we know what is what.

Tailcap / This can be taken apart but there is no need to for our purposes.

Body of Light / Holds battery, nothing to disassemble, has an O-Ring on tail cap end.

Pill / Houses MCPCB & Driver, disassembly will be discussed later.

Anodized Disc / Screws onto Body of Light opposite end of Tailcap. Surrounds LED.

Zoom Ring / Fits over Body of Light, refer back to video if you have questions.

Bezel / Houses Lens & O-ring, screws onto Zoom Ring
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Alright, now we know what just about everything is and how it fits together.

The next potential problem is the Anodized Disc touching the LED MCPCB solder joints.

When you unscrew the Anodized Disc from the Body of Light and remove it you will see what is illustrated in the picture below provided by β€˜RobertB’.

It is the LED mounted on the MCPBC installed in the Pill , which is screwed into the Body of Light. The white part that says BLF KRONOS on it may be red and say NOCTIGON on it. One of mine does.
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The photos below, provided by β€˜goshdogit’; show what to look for to see if the underside of your Anodized Disc is contacting the LED solder joints.

In the top picture you will notice the flat spot on the Negative - solder joint of the LED MCPCB.

In the bottom picture you will notice the shiny looking smear, on the slanted part under the hole; of the underside of Anodized Disc .

These are certain indications the Anodized Disc and Negative - …. in this case solder joints have been making contact.

Typically, but not always; when this happens with the Negative - solder joint only…. the light will be stuck in High Mode.

If it happens with the Positive + or both + & - at the same time you will have a potentially dangerous situation.

If I remember correctly, it was β€˜goshdogit’ who first discovered this problem way back in this post on 30 April 2016. You may bead about his experience here. WARNING: Cometa – read/fix BEFORE inserting battery - #1109 by goshdogit

_This problem needs to be fixed. If you ask 10 people how to fix it you will get at least 15 different answers._ :wink:

Therefore I am not going to tell you how to fix it.

I am going to tell you how I fixed it on all of mine though, and it has worked well for me on each one.

However you choose to fix it is totally up to you.
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I used this ButterFly Insulator/Spacer. XP-G - XP-G2 - XP-E2 - Plastic Butterfly Style Emitter Spacer / Insulator

This piece snaps over the LED Die.
It is designed to fit the footprint of an XP size LED.
This piece is 16mm wide & 0.8mm thick.
It is installed with each end at 90 deg. to solder joints.
It is not designed to cover solder joints.

It will raise the Anodized Disc 0.8mm the thickness of the ButterFly

This gives more clearance between the Anodized Disc and the solder joints. In fact mine no longer touched at all.

I then covered both + & - solder joints with Kapton Tape.

I used Kapton because I had some.

Electrical tape or Liquid tape will work just fine on the solder joints also.
If you use Liquid Tape, let it dry 24hrs. to be sure it is dry.

Before I put the Anodized Disc back on I did two more things.

I lifted the MCPCB from the Pill and visually inspected what I could see of both wires. I was looking for cuts or nicks in the wire insulation. I found none in any of my lights. If you do find a nick or cut that is down to bare wire, you need to fix it.

I also put more thermal compound under each lights MCPCB. None of my lights had the amount I personally like. I added Arctic Silver 5 under the middle of each lights MCPCB. The amount I added was about the size of 2/3 a grain of rice. [ best I can do on that one :wink: ]

Each of my lights now transfers heat very well.

After adding Thermal compound, if you choose to; push the wires back through the Pill and the MCPCB back onto the Pill with mild pressure to distribute the thermal compound if you added some . Make sure the wires go back through the MCPCB & Pill cleanly & free without being in any type bind.

We will now reinstall the Anodized Disc. Screw it back into the body being careful to make sure the β€˜4 teeny humps’ on the Butterfly around the XP LED come cleanly through the hole in the middle of the Anodized Disc. This will center your LED perfectly. Then just tighten the Anodized Disc snugly.

While the light is apart clean it well with a lint free rag or a unused coffee filter. they are lint free
Make sure you get out all the little Aluminum chips, left over from machining; that you may find.

Lube the light with. I use Super Lube, for my purpose it can not be beat. It will not harm Silicon O-Rings either.

Re assemble the light and have at it.

There is one potential problem I have not addressed yet. It involves taking out the Pill,
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Alright, here is the last problem area that can be addressed. [ Heck of a lot of β€œproblems” for a new light isn’t it…… :frowning: ]

The Pill must be removed for this.

We will start here with the light disassembled

The picture below is the Body of Light with the Pill installed.

Use a pair of needle nose pliers to remove the Pill from the Body of Light as shown in the video.
The red arrows in the picture below by β€˜unknown00101’ show where the plier tips go.
Turn counter clockwise to remove………

Be careful not to let the pliers slip and damage the LED, this can happen if you are not careful.

When you break the Pill loose, screw it out. I will come out easily and look like the picture by β€˜JamesB’ below.

What you see here is the end of the Pill that houses the driver. To loosen the driver put your plier tips or snap ring pliers into the two holes in the driver retainer ring seen above one hole is hidden behind the spring

Turn counter clockwise and remove the driver retainer ring. This will free the driver.

The Cometa Driver is seen in the picture below by β€˜JamesB’.

Where the problem is that due to the fact that BangGood substituted a 17mm driver instead of the spec’d 22mm driver and that the sloppily machined driver pocket is so oversized the 17mm driver could possibly shift to where the positive connection + to the driver shorts out against the Pill creating a potentially dangerous situation.

A sure way to β€œfix” this is to cover the positive + connection, especially on the edge of the driver; with Liquid Tape. Let it get dry before reassembling the Pill. Also before reassembly inspect wires for nicks or cuts, if any are found cover them with Liquid Tape.

Reassemble of the Pill is the reverse order you diaassembled, trying to keep the driver centered best as possible in the oversized driver pocket; as you reinstall the driver retainer ring.

Then continue to reassemble the light in the reverse order you disassembled.

Well, there ya’ are, that is all you have to do to β€œfix up” your brand spakin’ new light………… :person_facepalming:

I hope this helps some of you…. :slight_smile:



Please read and understand the following first of all…………
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WARNING ……… PLEASE READ!!

I don’t know, or really even care; if anyone else feels this way or not…… but we are just beginning to see the tip of the iceberg with this situation concerning the COMETA.

This is a potentially VERY DANGEROUS situation………….

Just notice some of the posts that are beginning to come in from people who either are unaware of the problem, have not been keeping up with this thread, refuse to read the whole thing, do not really understand the β€œfixes” described, do the β€œfixes” incorrectly, or just happy go lucky think it does not apply to them because their light β€œworks’.

Many do not have a clue that they are playing with a Potential BOMB…….

This BOMB could potentially hurt or kill them, as well as those around them; if it β€œgoes off”.

This IS NOT an exaggeration, and I challenge anyone to say what I write is not true……

This IS a potentially VERY DANGEROUS situation concerning this light!!!
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Disclaimer: I DO NOT represent myself as an β€œexpert”, either self proclaimed or otherwise.

But this is a potentially very dangerous situation!

And I defy anyone to openly disagree with what I have said.

If anyone takes me up on this, please list your rational.
~
Also, the problem lies with the sell/maker for ignoring agreed upon specs.

β€˜Cyberescudo’ IS NOT at fault.





PLEASE NOTE: The below pictures & link are not about a COMETA
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Now for an article and a few visual aids that show what potentially can happen to a Lithium Ion powered Flashlight…

The pictures below show what β€œcan” happen when a flashlight running on Lithium Ion batteries explodes.
It is pretty much just a Pipe BOMB.
The pictures below as well as the link to the story that go with them are just one example…….
I realize this is a cross forum link but the story as well as the pictures below can be seen at this link:

I realize this was another light, running on multiple batteries; BUT… an explosion is still an explosion.
This was NOT a Cometa

This was NOT a Cometa

HERE is a nice post on tear down of the COMETA, with lots of good pictures.
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POST 582 / Cyberescudo / Wed, 04-06-2016 / 13:08
The COMETA will be ready before 15th April. :smiley:

Final Sample



Improved tailcap: now the tailcap is less bright in order to respect the button timing. So leds on both sides and 752 resistors with a value of 7,5kΞ© ( higher value than 202 used on X6v2). Double gold plated spring.
Thanks to Toykeeper

Difference beetween COMETA and X6v2 tailcaps.

Tailcap teardown:




Good anodization:

Best machining on zooming’s threading with higher tolerances. Now the zooming action is very smooth and in intermediate positions the head stay in place and don’t rattle if the light is shack up.


Redisegned brass pill to accept 17 mm driver and 16 mm led star.



Redisegned alluminium cover for the led mcpcb with a smaller hole to prevent light artifacts due to reflexes on copper board.
Thanks to the parabolic shape there is no need of the ring present in the stock Jax.


This flashlight has a plenty of threads: all are well machined



Measurements…. Pre & Post Mods:

Reserved.

Reserved.

Interesting information:
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THIS information from ReManG, on COMETA inspection and repair; is also eccellent……. as well as concise.

As well as HERE also.
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hank & Brett H share some good info.

Now this is constructive
I thought you were gonna use a post for a theme
1 washer battery tube (tape or washer fix)
2 pill driver placement
3 led covering disc
4 wires
5 lens placement
6 difference with Jax light
7 customer support communication
8 ?
But I guess this will work as well :wink:

Of course it is constructive. :slight_smile:

I did, have, and will use the thread for a β€œtheme” The Miller, just like the title of the thread says. :slight_smile:

First and foremost, the theme is Safety, Safety, Safety. As well as providing the person who might need some instruction or help a place to go that is uncluttered and straight forward.

I have posted, in detail; what has worked for me.
If anyone chooses to follow what I have posted that is fine.
It they choose not to that is fine also.

It is there if they want it……… :slight_smile:

More topics will be added later, but these needed to come first.

And thank you also by the way. :slight_smile:

Wow, amazing thread! So helpful. I hope many will read it. Thank you very much!

+1,000,000

Best Regards,

George

i’m glad i passed on this light. Sounds like its a real dud.

Thanks for making this thread

The fact that it’s not exactly an original Jax Z1 host would infuriate me, I would want my money back.

But if the other issue’s can be sorted I’m sure that’ll be fine for most of you.

Apart from the problems people are reporting, the Cometa is a really well made host. The anodizing is superb, there are no rough edges anywhere, there’s beveling at every corner to prevent a sharp corner, and the there are very little artifacts in the beam. It might have design differences compared to a Z1, but I don’t doubt that it’s every bit as well made machining wise. I’m not saying that it’s perfect, but it’s a well made light with some unfortunate flaws that fortunately have fixes. It was a great deal at $40.

Is the organizer of this group buy, or any other influential person, going to mediate a resolution with Bang good for those of us that have received the out of spec. COMETA ??
Or is this every man for himself.
Please, advice.
Thank You

Sadly, it seems to still be every man for himself.
Though if you PM Banggood they will send out a insulator disk. Sadly it doesn’t solve the other safety issues or wrong specification.
I lodged a refund request 48 hours ago, and have yet to hear anything. Still early days….

If thats all what banggood does I foresee they won’t sell their EU batch of lights.

Please let us know how your refund request goes.
Other than the safety issues highlighted in many posts, my other peeve is the zooming mechanism seems like to be poorly executed.
The screw threads between the head and the body has too much gap that I’m thinking of using some teflon tape to prevent any rattling.